Imagine a teenager in a study carrel at a Chicago Public Library branch. It’s the late end of the 1980s, and a stack of newspapers is on a table nearby. Standing up to stretch after an hour of pretending to cram for a test, our teen’s eyes fall on the first paper on the stack: the Chicago Reader. 

The paper’s classifieds section is visible and they spot Life in Hell in the corner of a page, a one-panel comic starring a rabbit-like creature with one big ear. (The comic was created by a pre-Simpsons Matt Groening.) The teen grabs the paper to study that weird cartoon instead. A library clerk looks up and says, “Hey, you can take that with you if you like. The Reader is free.”

The biggest privilege in my life has been being born in Chicago at exactly the right time. I’m only slightly younger than the Reader, so I remember stacks of newspapers cluttering my kitchen table growing up. My family believed in conversation, in educating ourselves and being aware, and in having fun and seeking out new experiences, like going to concerts and museums. If you didn’t have anything to say around the table, my grandparents would ask us, how could you possibly have anything to offer away from the table? 

Another privilege in my life has been working for the Chicago Reader. We’re a community newspaper for a big city. We offer a weekly look at the things that matter to Chicagoans and give them a chance to learn about something new. Every week I’m reminded that there’s a younger person out there who, like myself (yes, that was me in the library), is discovering our pages or website for the first time. And every week there’s something great, new, challenging, or maybe even joyful that I’d like them to know about.  

The Reader is in a strange and wonderful place. We’re a media outlet that can count itself as a legacy organization but at the same time, we’re a very new nonprofit organization. We have many loyal and longtime readers and at the same time, we seek to grow and diversify our reach. And we, like all news organizations, await the future with the trepidation of not knowing what challenges might come our way as democracy continues to be challenged and independent news organizations continue to be underrepresented and underfunded. 

That’s why we need your support now more than ever. We cover Chicago and the world from a Chicago lens. Please join us: donate your dollars and help us spread the word about the Reader so we can continue to foster our legacy of innovative storytelling and be a source of something new for all Chicagoans. 

If we don’t have independent newspapers in Chicago, how can we possibly have anything to offer the world?

We need your help today

After more than 50 years of serving Chicago, the Reader faces imminent closure. 

Can you imagine Chicago without the Chicago Reader? We can’t either. But a perfect storm of sudden economic downturns has put us in a precarious position, without much time to spare.

We’re not giving up though. We have a clear path forward, but only if we can raise enough from enough supporters to make it through this crisis. 

If you value the Reader, and want to see it survive, please chip in now with a tax-deductible donation. 

Questions about giving? Email development@chicagoreader.com or at:

Reader Institute for Community Journalism, 2930 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 102 Chicago, IL 60616

The Reader Institute for Community Journalism is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 84-3670420). Donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.